Kingston Council's Library Service has been awarded an Arts Council grant of more than £40,000.

The money will go towards creating community connections, developing story exchange skills, producing exhibitions and books.

Kingston Libraries will work with storyteller Richard Neville to encourage the borough's most vulnerable residents to build sustainable community connections.

Collaborating with community organisations across the borough, they will encourage residents with learning disabilities, asylum seekers, older residents and those experiencing mental health problems to come together to share stories, exchange skills and create lasting friendships.

Neville attended the Summer of Fun event on 27 August to share a book of stories created through working with members of the Community Library Service, as part of the Reading Agency funded Reading Friends project.

Experts from Kingston University will be invited to research, analyse and report on the outcomes of the project.

Using the information, they gather they hope to create a toolkit that can be used by others to build communities through storytelling.

Councillor Rebekah Moll, Portfolio Holder for Culture at Kingston Council said: "The aim of this new project is to empower communities who might not regularly access cultural events to work together, meet new people, exchange ideas and create events."